A senior government lawyer, suspected to have assisted the counsel for the accused in the Junaid Khan murder case, has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since childhood and has represented the Bharatiya Janata Party in television debates, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday.
However, Additional Advocate General Naveen Kaushik said the charge that he had helped the lawyer representing the accused was a “misconception”, and that he was ready to provide an explanation whenever he was asked for one.
Last week, Additional District and Sessions Judge YS Rathore, who is hearing the Junaid Khan case in Faridabad, asked the Haryana government, the advocate general’s office and the Bar Council to take action against Kaushik. Rathore alleged that Kaushik was helping the people charged with the murder of 16-year-old Junaid Khan on board a Delhi-Mathura train on June 22.
Rathore said Khan’s lynching was a sensitive case, and that if Kaushik appeared to be aiding the defence counsel, “it will create a feeling of insecurity” among the victims.
Kaushik was among the first lawyers to be selected for a Haryana government panel when the BJP was voted to power in the state in 2014. He is also associated with the Bharatiya Bhasha Abhiyan and Adhivakta Parishad, an RSS-affiliated advocates’ organisation. He was seen in television debates as a BJP spokesperson in the run-up to the 2014 general elections, The Indian Express reported.
On June 22, Junaid and three of his brothers had boarded a local train from Delhi’s Sadar Bazar Station. A fight broke out between the brothers and a few passengers over seats. The incident turned communal after a mob allegedly called the four “anti-nationals” and “beef eaters” and threw their skull caps on the floor. The 16-year-old was killed in the fight, while his brothers were hospitalised with stab wounds.
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